Here We Go Again
Last updated : 19 September 2005 By Keith Allman
Whilst I realise that I really should be over the media now and I shouldn't let it bother me anymore, it still astounds me just how much stuff they can come out with whenever we lose or whenever they want to pick on us. But first a history lesson; you might well remember Darren Lewis being, along with Oliver "Bluto" Holt, one of the most prominent anti-Portsmouth journalists last season. Particularly after the resignation of Redknapp and his arrival down the coast he seemed to develop a particularly spiteful agenda. For example, this was his take on last season's relegation battle;
"Redknapp can now turn his attention to the battle for survival. True, they need reinforcements, but Redknapp is at a club where everybody pulls together in the same direction. With a mass sale going on 18 miles down the road, could you really say the same for Portsmouth?"Even the most staunch of Southampton fans would've struggled to argue that their club were "pulling together in the same direction". But this is the tabloids so I guess accuracy doesn't matter - after all The Mirror also reported we had O'Meral and Lazaridis playing for us this weekend! Fantastic!
This week they've come out with two articles, and I'll start with the first. Makes sense.
"Alain Perrin branded Lomana LuaLua the weakest link as Portsmouth failed to break down 10-man Birmingham."
No he didn't. He said "maybe he thought it was easy to score and sometimes his tempo was not high enough", which implies he thought he wasn't having the best game, but I don't see anyone calling him the "weakest link". In fact, in the very same interview he also said that, "Sometimes LuaLua can do the best, score and create great things, because he is a tricky player. Sometimes, though, he can lose the ball too easily because he wants to help the team to win". Still I guess that's too positive to fit the story, so might as well cut that bit out!
"The Pompey boss hauled off the striker with 15 minutes to go - despite his opening goal and being easily their best player."
I presume the Darren Lewis writing this article is a different Darren Lewis than the one banned from Fratton Park, so who would not be able to comment on LuaLua's performance. Which, as previously correctly stated by Mr Perrin, was not the best.
"LuaLua stormed out of Fratton Park afterwards insisting he was too angry to talk."
Which is interesting, because he was spotted at 5:30 in the car park behind the Fratton End happily signing autographs and chatting to fans. Presumably Mr Lewis has become confused with LuaLua walking down the tunnel after being substituted which he admitted afterwards was because he took a hefty fall on his arm in the second half. Still, Darren wouldn't know that, because he wasn't at the game.
"It was a bizarre assessment considering one of Perrin's substitutes, Zvonimir Vukic, was clean through late on yet put his shot over when it would have been easier to score."
Ah, now we're reaching the crux of the matter. One of PERRIN'S substitutes, who clearly can't be any good because Perrin signed him. Yes, he did miss a good chance. But so did Gary O'Neil. Funny how it's only Perrin's signing and Mr Johnny Foreigner who gets picked up on. I presume Darren watched this incident on Match Of The Day.
Still, that happily links us to the second article is some great Mirror xenophobia about David Unsworth.
"DAVID UNSWORTH has accused Alain Perrin of forcing him out of Portsmouth - because he is ENGLISH."
Or because he's not as good as Taylor and Vignal. If Unsworth is still Premiership quality, why did only Sheffield United want him? And what's with the capital letters? You don't need to shout.
"The former England full-back says Perrin's policy of recruiting players from NINETEEN different countries cost him his Pompey career."
Blimey, dirty immigrants stealing a living from the good honest Englishman! Spurs have players from eighteen different countries and yet no-one seems to pick up on that. Bolton used just one English player in their UEFA Cup game in midweek. Chelsea and Arsenal have both fielded sides without English players. We don't have a duty to play English players, we have a duty to play the best players we can to get the best results we can.
"Unsworth said: "When Harry Redknapp left and the foreign contingent came in, it was made very clear I was not wanted".
I love the way they try to draw a line between Harry Redknapp and the foreign contigent. I presume it was a different Harry Redknapp who signed players from places like Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Jamaica, Bulgaria, Italy, the Czech Republic, the DR Congo, Holland, Trinidad, Australia, Scotland and Serbia. And who has recently signed two Poles for Southampton. I don't have a problem with that in the slightest but to try and imply that we're the only club in the country with a foreign contingent - well, beggars belief really doesn't it.
Gotta love the media. It's just a shame a lot of people will read the articles and think they're true and form an opinion on Pompey because of it. Still, I suppose by banning them and going on angry rants Milan has to expect retaliation - even if journos are scum of the earth ballbags!
